1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a survival jacket and more particularly pertains to a new survival article of clothing for preventing suffocation or being crushed by the user until help can arrive.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of a survival jacket is known in the prior art. More specifically, a survival jacket heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art includes U.S. Pat. No. 5,490,501; U.S. Pat. No. 4,365,628; U.S. Pat. No. 5,781,936; U.S. Pat. No. 4,767,371; U.S. Pat. No. Des. 399,335; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,943,252.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not disclose a new survival article of clothing. The inventive device includes a sleeve-less inflatable jacket member having a neck opening, shoulder portions, arm openings through the shoulder portions thereof, and being adapted to cover a front and a back of a user's upper torso with the jacket member also having an expandable outer layer of material and an inner layer of material and a collar member securely attached along the neck opening for covering the user's neck region; and also includes a front and back foldable flap-like protective members being securely attached along the neck opening of said jacket member and being adapted to extend about the user's face below one's eyes and about a lower portion of the user's back of one's head; and further includes strap members being fastenable to a bottom portion of the jacket member and being extendable about the user's legs; and also includes sleeve members being removably attached to about the arm openings of the jacket member; and further includes an inflation assembly for inflating the jacket member and providing oxygen to the user.
A survival article of clothing as described in claim 1, wherein said outer layer of material includes first and second pleated portions along said front side and said back side of said jacket member, each of said first and second pleated portions extending from said neck opening to a bottom of said jacket member along a central portion of a respective said front and back sides of said jacket member.
In these respects, the survival article of clothing according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of preventing suffocation or being crushed by the user until help can arrive.